GUIDE ON CHOOSING A PUNCHING BAG

If you are a boxer or you just want to get fit, a punching bag can be an excellent outlet to vent out all that extra energy. However, there is a number of factors that you need to consider while choosing a punching bag. Here’s your guide to choosing a punching bag.

Quality vs Price

Budget plays a major role in choosing a punching bag. Though you may be tempted to opt for less expensive options, they may end up feeling like hitting a toy bag. By investing a little bit more money you can buy a bag that will give you quality and the feel of the real thing.

Filled vs. Unfilled Bags

The next thing that you need to consider is whether a punching bag is filled or not. A majority of punching bags come filled, however, a few of the premium bags are unfilled and require you to fill them. The best of the punching bags are the ones that you can fill yourself, as you will have the choice of the material to fill in to have the perfect firmness.

Materials Used

Another thing you should look for in a punching bag are the materials used in the bag. Bags made from genuine leather are the most expensive, but they are the most comfortable and durable as well. Synthetic leather is another popular material used on the outer shell of a punching bag. It is a little cheaper than genuine leather. Canvas punching bags are the cheapest, however, the material does not feel good against the skin when you punch or kick it.

Size

Size is yet another factor that you need to consider. It affects the weight of the bag. Bigger bags will be heavier while smaller bags will be lighter.

Shape

One more factor, probably the most important one, is the shape. Different shapes of punching bags are used for different types of training.

This information should help you out while buying your first punching bag.

4 MISTAKES TO AVOID WHILE BUYING A TREADMILL

Treadmill is the most popular gym fitness machine, loved by people all over the world. One can walk, jog, and run in the privacy of one’s home or in gyms. It is the best cardiovascular exercise for burning maximum calories and for overall fitness.  In the inbuilt monitors, the heartbeat, pulse rate, calories burnt can be tracked. In this blog, we will see the mistakes people make while buying a treadmill. This will be helpful to avoid repeating the same mistakes.

4 mistakes to avoid before buying a treadmill:

• Buying off-the-catalogue: Putting blind faith in quality and performance of a machine can cost you heavily. Instead, read consumer reports of the equipment first. The consumer reports give a clear picture of the products. Compare the prices, when making big investments to make informed decisions.

• Not preparing yourself and your home/space for the equipment: Your treadmill purchase should not be based on a whim. Prepare a space in your home to house the equipment first, and prepare yourself to use it regularly. Also keep in mind that you will have to deal with whatever repairs and maintenance the machine demands.

• “One size fits all” approach: Nothing can be more disastrous while purchasing a treadmill than this. It is important to check the motor (2.25-4.25 CHP), belt, and electronic setup before buying a treadmill. A 22″ wide belt and 60” length is recommended for tall runners with a long stride and 20″ width and 50” length for walkers. Track cushioning protects the joints from the impact of the exercise.

• Overlooking or forgoing seller and manufacturer responsibilities: Many of us, in a rush to own discounted and/or cheap treadmills, decide to give up on after-sale services. This is a big mistake. You must ask for onsite, after sales service for repairs and maintenance. Every treadmill model should offer a motor warranty of at least one to three years.

HOW TO PROPERLY USE A FITNESS BALL FOR YOUR EXERCISES?

For those who haven’t seen this “equipment” at someone’s place or at a gym, a fitness ball is a huge ball (about 14 to 34 inches in diameter) made of soft elastic. Also known as Swiss ball, it is helpful for those who wish to strengthen their spine. You may also use it for general exercise. In this blog, you will learn how to properly use a fitness ball for your exercise, because there are so many exercises that can be done with this one equipment.

Exercise use #1: Squats

For the legs and back, to be repeated 8-15 times.

• Find a wall.

• Stand with your back to the wall, and with the ball in between, in contact with your lumber (lower back).

• Start to get in a sitting position with knees bent at a right angle, and with the ball still between your back and the wall.

• Get back in standing position, trying not to let the ball fall.

Exercise use #2: Push-ups

For the arms and abdomen, to be repeated 8-10 times.

• Lie face-down with the ball under your belly, legs out straight, and palms flat on the floor.

• Use your palms to pull yourself ahead, rolling the ball underneath. Get into plank position, with the ball placed anywhere between ankles and hips. Keep your spine aligned – your ears, shoulders and hips should be in the same line.

• Do push-ups.

Exercise use #3: Balance

For overall balance, to be repeated 8 times.

• Sit on the Swiss ball. Place your hands on your hips.

• Place your feet on the floor, close together.

• Lift one foot off and hold position for 5 seconds.

• Repeat with the other foot.

There are many more exercises that can be performed using a Swiss ball. One just has to get creative with their fitness trainers and device a routine that suits one’s fitness needs.

Gym Equipment - How to choose perfect Exercise Bike

Exercise bikes are iconic representations of fitness. The idea of opting for home gym equipment will unmistakably include an exercise bike. This is mainly because of the benefits of training and working out with an exercise bike. With benefits that stretch from endurance to cardio workouts to fast calorie burns, it is important to get yourself one and clock adequate time on the seats. However, getting one actually involves understanding more about the bike before choosing one. Here is your ultimate guide that will help you to park the best one in your home.

Must have features versus frills

Ideally, you should first look for the must have features in an exercise bike. Only after you have the mandatory features covered should you look for or get interested in the frills that you may or may not use. What is important to bear in mind, is the fact that your exercise bike needs to meet your objectives of working out. Your fitness program has a goal, and the exercise bike should be geared towards meeting those objectives. The most important feature, is undoubtedly variable resistance. Choose a bike that offers variable resistance, so that you can adjust and improve as you progress.

Space constraints

Regardless of the size of homes, the exercise bike needs to be compact. This makes it easier to position and to shift within the premises whenever required. Consider the space available in your home and the amount of space that you are willing to allocate for the bike before choosing one. It does not pay to procure one and let it lie in your attic or garage for want of adequate space.  You also need to consider that you may wish to include other workout equipment at a later stage as you find benefits from your fitness program.

Covered movable components

It is important to choose a bike that comes with covered movable components. For instance, the chain and the flywheel needs to be covered in some kind of a compartment so as to prevent accidents. It is possible that an exposed chain or flywheel can cause injury when kids inadvertently handle the moving parts. The whole exercise bike should ideally come in a compact enclosed model for better safety and aesthetics.

Three Foam Roller Exercises which are Great For Overall Fitness

Recovering after a workout is important and actually determines how your next session will shape out. If you have not recovered from the pain and muscle soreness of a workout, chances are that you may not go in for the next session. And this defeats the very purpose of working out. Recovering from a workout can be a lot easier than imagined, and it all boils down to a set a exercises that you perform after you finish your workouts. Here is a look at three different foam roller exercises that help you in your fitness program.

Soothe your calves

In a seating position with your legs stretched out, place your hands behind you, raise yourself and position the foam roller beneath your calves. Roll yourself on the foam roller between the back of your knees and your ankles. You need to control the weight of the body with your arms and the rolling motion. This will greatly soothe the calves, blowing pain away.

Reducing lactic acid buildup in your quads

Lie face down and raise yourself on your palms. Place the foam roller beneath your hips and cross your left leg onto your right leg as far as possible. The idea is to shift weight onto one leg. Roll yourself on the foam roller from the hips to the knees. Repeat the same procedure with your other leg. This will keep lactic acid levels low and ease muscle soreness.

Give much needed relief to your back

Your back takes a lot of load during work outs, without you even being aware of the kind of punishment you are meting out. It is necessary to offer relief to your back with this wonderful foam roller exercise. Sit on the floor with your knees pulled up to your chest and slowly rest your back on the floor with your arms outstretched behind you.  Place the foam roller behind your lower back and raise yourself lightly. Roll yourself on the foam roller moving it from the lower back, all the way upto the shoulder blades. Your body weight needs to be balanced on your feet and your outstretched palms.

3 Reason why jogging is beneficial on treadmill

One of the oldest yet most popular and effective ways of keeping fit is undoubtedly jogging. And treadmills are effective partners in the journey to fitness. However, there is no escaping the fact that many individuals look at treadmills as an arrangement that is used when the weather plays spoilsport to a morning or evening jog. The point seems to be altogether missed, because treadmills are not just a substitute or an adhoc arrangement, but one of the best ways to keep fit. Here are three good reasons why you need to keep pounding on treadmill.

Track your progress through digitized data

Jogging is intended to bring benefits to the individual and it always helps to keep track of progress. The digital monitors on the treadmills are advanced technological marvels that help to offer information on the progress made during workouts. For instance the speed, the duration, and the incline adjustments are invariably changed with each session and the availability of data helps to show improvement or the lack of improvement. Improvements offer inspiration, and treadmills offer the greatest inspiration by way of data displayed on screen.

Predictable surface for better efforts and safety

Jogging is intended to help individuals attain fitness. It is not an adventure by any stretch of imagination, unless, of course, it is undertaken during a trip to some exotic destination. Jogging is primarily intended as a workout. An unpredictable surface would subconsciously affect an individual’s training. The apprehension of having to run on a surface that may suddenly turn hard is likely to prevent individuals from going all out. A treadmill on the other hand offers a predictable surface, with speed and incline controlled by the individual, giving greater flexibility to scale up or down as and when required.

Working out as per own schedule

The aim to get fit involves a routine. A treadmill offers individuals to fix a healthy routine as per convenience. An early morning jog may be most suitable for most individuals. Unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with the advantages of a fabulous location where jogging around dawn is possible. Weather and traffic may pose hindrances, depending on the location. Some locations may just be unsafe for joggers. And having to drive insane distances in search of a jogging track is definitely not the best idea. A treadmill at home offers individuals the options of working out to a fixed routine and draw the best benefits.  The time spent commuting to a track and back can be actually utilized to go that extra mile on the treadmill for better results.

Research has proved that the first twenty minutes of workout does not burn out the fat. This means that individuals who drive to a jogging track hardly get to derive benefits. Time would be spent towards driving to and fro, leaving the individual a short period to work out. With treadmills, it is possible to use every single minute to pound on the running belt while listening to favorite songs. Treadmills offer the safety of listening to music without being run over.

Boost Power-Endurance using Kettlebell Training

The kettlebell, from its humble origins in agrarian measurement has turned into a powerful weight training accessory. Trust the Russians to come up with rugged and utilitarian equipment. Offering great scope for boosting power and endurance with a range of exercises, the kettlebell is one of the most versatile free weights.

Power and endurance for whole body

Kettlebell training increases strength in the lower back, legs and shoulders. This translates into better power, endurance and grip. The exercises workout a large number of muscle groups. It is important to note here that power and endurance are not limited to particular portions of the body, it actually applies to the whole body. And kettlebells have the range of exercises to increase power and endurance for the whole body.

Small weights offering power and endurance? Flummoxed?

Contrary to opinion that only bigger and heavier weights help to develop power and endurance, it is a fact that power and endurance will come when all parts of the body are worked out. Kettle bells require large number of repetitions, either by sets without a break or with breaks. The large number of repetitions are primarily responsible for building up endurance.

Kettlebells in pairs or used alone

Kettlebells can be used in pairs or alone. The difference lies in the nature of the exercise.  Kettlebells can be used to work out any part of the body due to the nature of handles provided. Suitable for squats, deadlifts, snatch, jerk, clean, lunges, rowing, the list is nearly endless offering options to exercise all parts of the body. One of the greatest advantages of kettlebell is that exercises exist for using one weight, which is quite unlike most other free weights like barbells that are usually performed with a pair of weights.

This rugged free weight has not been replaced, but has gained in popularity, for the simple and effective workout options it offers. An ideal way to work out at home, to exercise all parts, the kettlebell forms part of a professional’s workout schedule due to the manifold benefits it offers.